Competition Twenty-Five Highly Commended: Because Education Matters by Anne Howkins
The flapping-gowned headmistress swoops down on you as you come out of the library, books clutched against non-regulation gingham, the one mum said was okay, and half the price, and asks What are you wearing Jacqueline Robinson? and you can only whisper, sorry Miss Lyons, and she says to report to her in the morning wearing correct school uniform, and you know this is impossible.
Pass the dinner queue, head for the cloakroom, wanting a reason not to put your coat on and go home, and Head Girl, Isobel Jones, her perfect shiny bob cut so sharp it slices into your heart, Isobel with her Oxford place, and the prospect of a life with possibilities, she asks, in the flawless voice that sings out of the choir, the choir that has no place for your tone-deafness, and she asks, What are you doing Jacqueline Robinson? and your heart heals, just a little bit, because you exist in her world, and you mutter something about a hankie, and then you know, just know, that she thinks you’re looking for money in blazer pockets.
Go to the gym so you can loiter by the games noticeboard, though you know very well that you’re not the stuff of any school team, and you just need five minutes, that’s all, so you can get your dinner when the tables empty, and you turn the corner to see Sarah Wilkins and Janice Stanley, and they see you, and they jostle past you, and you can hear creepy Robbo and mother and tart and dirty drunk amongst their nasty cackling.
Get home, mum is comatose on the sofa, and the kitchen floor is smashed glass again, and the tap drip-drips over brown scum, and you get your books out, because there’s nothing else you can do.
Anne loves the challenge of telling stories in very few words. Her stories have appeared in print and online at WestWord, Flash 500, Reflex Fiction, Flash Fiction Magazine, National Flash Fiction Day, Lunate, Strands International and Bath Flash Fiction. When not writing, Anne looks after the finances of a charity, walks a lot and spends as much time as possible with her adored grandson.
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This story is wonderful.